The role of Pliny in the preservation and interpretation of the early views of the natural world is assessed in Roger Frenchand Frank Greenaway(eds.), Science in the Early Roman Empire: Pliny the Elder, His Sources and Influence (1986), a collection of informative, authoritative essays. Worthwhile books about Pliny include Mary Beagon, Roman Nature: The Thought of Pliny the Elder (1992); and John F. Healy, Pliny the Elder on Science and Technology (1999).